Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, Strong Machine and the Craig Brook Fish Hatchery host popular event
EAST ORLAND — More than 300 people were in the area the weekend of the 10th and 11th to participate in two days and four separate races of the Wildlands Adventure Challenge. The teams had excellent weather (although the whitecaps on Alamoosook Lake were daunting for some).
3-Hour Race Winners:
1st Place Co-Ed and Overall: Tie: Huff & Gruff/Puppy Parents
2nd Place Co-Ed Division: Team Delecto
1st Place Family Division: Ocean Explorers
2nd Place Family Division: Cazadores Short
1st Place Women’s Division: Contour Crew
8-Hour Race Winners:
1st Place Open Division and Overall: Untamed New England
1st Place Co-Ed Premier Division: Strong Machine AR
2nd Place Co-Ed Premier Division: Untamed New England
3rd Place Co-Ed Premier Division: NYARA – Last Known Photo
2nd Place Open Division: Strong Machine Goon Squad
1st Place Women’s Division: Team Kash
2nd Place Women’s Division: Bi Polar
1st Place Solo Division: Rugged Road/Thorin Markinson
1st Place Two-Person Co-Ed Division: Naughty By Nature
2nd Place Two-Person Co-Ed Division: Strong Machine AV Club
Adventure racing is a multisport, primarily off-road, navigation-based sport. In normal years, there are hundreds of races run in the US and around the world. The first race held in the US was the multiday Eco Challenge, held in 1995. This is the third year for this race, which took a lot of effort to ensure that participants were safe. The racer’s preparation included a Zoom Q&A meeting and a mandatory race briefing video, instead of the usual in-person briefing.
Only racers, volunteers and staff attended the event, with no spectators, for safety reasons and to comply with the state’s limit on outdoor event size. The race was designed by Strong Machine Adventure Racing, a nationally ranked adventure race team based in Portland that also organizes the Maine Summer Adventure Race (which was canceled this year).
Most racers were in coed teams of three or four (often family members), but several individuals raced in the 8-hour races, as well. The races involved trekking throughout the Wildlands, biking, and sea kayaking on Alamoosook Lake. Teams navigate by compass (GPS and other electronics are not allowed) using a map with the location of checkpoints. Teams received points for each checkpoint they got to and had to cross the finish line with a minimum number of checkpoints to finish the race.
Many of the 109 teams spent the weekend in the area, with at least two local motels filled to capacity. 86 This! provided burritos and Fogtown Brewing donated beer for all the races. OutThere Packs, Orange Seal, and Sap Hound Maple Co. also contributed equipment in-kind. The race contributes significantly to the land trust budget.
Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, a nonprofit land trust, owns and manages the 4500- acre Wildlands in East Orland and Chapman Farm in Bucksport. Both are managed for wildlife habitat, sustainable forestry and recreation. They are open to the public for hiking, biking, snowmobiling, horseback riding as well as hunting, fishing, and trapping. For more information, go to www.greatpondtrust.org.